The rutting season is starting and they know that an un-
attached or bachelor buck does not travel with doe because a stronger buck has taken over, one who will brook no interference. So, John and Henry keep eyes open for a stray buck as well as being alert to a possible interception of the returning group. They do not travel directly in the trail; they stalk slowly along, one on either side, some twenty-five yards from the runway.
Further on the tracks leave the main trail, showing that the deer had taken a less used trail which leads in the direction of a stand of scrub oak. At this stand they find plenty of sign which satisfies the hunters that deer had been feeding on acorns that morning.
